


Cooking Isn't For Everyone

by FreckledSkittles



Series: 2019 SVU Advent Calendar [21]
Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Advent Calendar, Bad Cooking, Christmas Dinner, Cooking, M/M, Married Couple, i love my wives lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21909682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreckledSkittles/pseuds/FreckledSkittles
Summary: Day 21 of Advent Calendar Writing Prompts.Amanda doesn't know how to cook but the effort is still nice.
Relationships: Olivia Benson/Amanda Rollins
Series: 2019 SVU Advent Calendar [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559359
Kudos: 16





	Cooking Isn't For Everyone

**Author's Note:**

> This is late don't worry!!! we're here gang
> 
> This is the last Rolivia fic for this challenge but I honestly had so much fun writing these two! I liked them before they found a special place in my heart and I hope you enjoy them too <3
> 
> I used four separate Tumblr posts to find prompts for this event. The prompt for this story is: “Don’t feel bad… you didn’t COMPLETELY ruin Christmas dinner. There’s still this… jello stuff." You can find the prompt [here](https://writersblockbecomesunblocked.tumblr.com/post/181316269601/christmas-writing-prompts)!

“Fuck!”

Olivia tries not to smile at the sudden outburst. It hasn’t been the absolute worst her wife has shouted from the kitchen all day, but it might be the loudest for sure. Jessie and Noah look over for a brief moment before they return to building with their Legos. Olivia glances over at the kitchen to see Amanda, Billie strapped to her chest in a baby carrier, glaring at the latest square tin she had poured batter into and, supposedly, ruined. “How’s the cooking going?”

Amanda tosses the tin aside and presses the soles of her palms into the edge of her counter. “Great,” she growls. “Absolutely great.” She hands Billie her sippy cup and pats her daughter’s head.

Olivia suppresses a laugh and sits up from the couch she’s sprawled across. Amanda had insisted since the beginning of December, as a representation of their first Christmas together, that she would be the sole cook for their Christmas dinner. Amanda isn’t necessarily a bad cook, but of the dates they’ve had in the past, Olivia had been the one most likely to cook an edible meal. Neither of them minded, especially when Amanda made up for it in some creative ways that could be a bit explicit.

“My offer to help still stands,” Olivia speaks up. Amanda scrapes the food she had made into the trash and glares at her. “At the very least, it’d probably go a lot quicker.”

“No,” Amanda grumbles. “I’m fine.”

Jessie perks up in the middle of building a plane. “Mommy, you’ve been cursing a lot,” she says.

Noah nods in agreement. “Yeah, let Mom help you out!”

“I’m happy Billie can’t speak yet,” Amanda murmurs. Olivia laughs and stands from the couch despite her wife’s insistent hands trying to keep her away. “No, go relax! I said I was gonna make dinner and I meant it.”

“I really appreciate that, Amanda,” Olivia says, smiling and pecking Amanda’s forehead, “but I never minded cooking in the first place. Don’t you want some type of help?”

Amanda frowns, her arms momentarily pushing Billie closer against her chest, and she looks away sheepishly. Her lips are pulled down in a deep frown; when she talks, Olivia almost takes back what she said. “Our first Christmas dinner as a family—with just the two of us, not everyone else—should be something special.” She gestures to two pots and a pan that are soaking in the sink. “This isn’t easy, but it’s something important to me.”

Well. Either Amanda was saying that genuinely or she was using it to hit Olivia right in the soft spot. There was no way she could say no to that. Olivia lets out a sigh and shrugs, reaching a hand out for Billie to grab. “Alright. How about I take this little kernel for a bit, give you some more mobility?”

Amanda nods and smiles. “That’d be helpful. And it’d stop her from trying to eat everything.” With Olivia’s help, she removes the carrier from her chest while Billie cozies up against Olivia with a soft giggle. She barely looks over at her birth mom while her adopted parent brings her out of the kitchen and to the bouncer in the living room. Noah and Jessie can still play with their Legos at the dining table without the worry of Billie swallowing the small pieces. And now that Olivia is here with her, she has all the arm and leg room she could ever ask for.

Olivia keeps the kids occupied while Amanda starts cooking again. She knew the blonde woman was trying to make pasta, something about Sonny recommending some easy recipes, but the tomato sauce she had wanted to pair it with has been in the trash for at least an hour. And her wife was a stubborn woman—there would have to be some type of travesty in the kitchen to stop Amanda from continuing her cooking.

It’s only twenty minutes later before Amanda is swearing again, tossing utensils in the sink and looking downright murderous at the stovetop. Olivia checks to make sure the kids are okay before she stands and walks into the kitchen. The sink has been filling up with discarded pots and pans for a few hours now, and Amanda is smeared with remnants of food. Olivia tries not to laugh, but the spread of flour across her cheek and the tomato stains on her apron is a bit too cute for her not to.

“How’s it going?” Olivia asks.

Amanda tosses the hand towel over the rim of the sink and leans forward. Some of her hair has escaped the bun she had tossed it into. “Terrible,” she growls. “I should have never agreed to cook. You shouldn’t have let me in here. This is fucking horrible.”

“Do you want a hug?”

Amanda stalls for a brief moment, and then she’s leaning into Olivia’s arms, falling into her chest and curling up close. Olivia pecks her forehead and squeezes her close. “I ruined Christmas.”

“You did not.”

She gestures wildly at the mess on the counters, the various string of ingredients and food strewn around without order. “Look at this! It looks like the aftermath of a Julia Child marathon.” Amanda seethes when Olivia chuckles under her breath. “I could have done so much better and I failed.”

“Don’t feel bad, Manda, you didn’t completely ruin Christmas dinner. There’s still this…” Olivia gestures to a long dish with yellow strips on the top, hoping to ease some of the pain in her voice, “this jello stuff.”

Amanda scowls. “That’s supposed to be lasagna.”

“Oh.” Well. To be fair, at first glance, the ricotta was nearly invisible and the tomato sauce decked over it was thin. “That’s okay. I’m sure we can salvage anything.”

“Anything that lasted the full cooking time is either in the garbage or a failure.”

Jessie pops up around the corner with a 3D flower crafted out of Lego pieces. Amanda smiles at the sight as her daughter strides over, her craft outstretched with a big smile. “It’s okay, Mommy,” she says. “Cooking isn’t for everyone.”

Amanda’s smile falls, and she takes the flower with a miserable hum. “Have you ever watched ‘Ratatouille’ or have I been raising you wrong this whole time?”

Jessie shrugs. “Anyone can cook, but that doesn’t mean you should.” She skips back to Noah and leaves Amanda gaping in the kitchen, Olivia trying once again to keep her laughter contained. As genuine as their responses could be, there was something pure and innocent about a child’s logic, especially when it came from one of their own.

“I think Sonny’s Christmas present from you should be cooking lessons,” she jokes.

“As if,” she huffs. “I think I’d rip his head off by the time we finished with the appetizers.”

Olivia shrugs and drags her hand through strands of blonde, admiring the soft touch and the cascading tresses. “I’m sure it’d be worth a try.”

“Or,” Amanda burrows into her shoulder and grins, “I can just rely on you.”

Olivia pinches her arm and laughs, warm and free and happy.

**Author's Note:**

> "Ratatouille" is the best Pixar movie change my mind
> 
> The next prompt is gonna be some more lawyer husbands but with a twist! (Spoiler alert this is for my own guilty pleasure and something that is probably relatable to a lot of action fans)...


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